Lyon oust GFCO Ajaccio to reach cup final
Reuters - Tuesday 10 April 2012, 20:55
Olympique Lyon reached the
French Cup final with a 4-0 win over third division GFCO Ajaccio
after the hosts were reduced to 10 men in an ill-tempered game
on Tuesday.
Alexandre Lacazette, Lisandro Lopez, Clement Grenier and
Bafetimbi Gomis scored second-half goals after Anthony Colinet
was shown a straight red card seven minutes before the break.
Lyon set up a final meeting with either third division
Quevilly or Stade Rennes, who will meet on Wednesday.
Ajaccio started brightly, with Mickael Colloredo hitting the
post with a shot on the turn as the hosts piled the pressure.
Lyon reacted swiftly and Jimmy Briand saw off a couple of
defenders in the area but his curled shot hit the bar.
Ajaccio were reduced to 10 men in the 38th minute
when Colinet was sent to the dressing room for a violent tackle
on Lacazette.
A brawl erupted on the pitch and the game was interrupted
for almost five minutes as referee Said Ennjimi struggled to
restore order and on the stroke of half-time, Kim Kallstrom's
powerful free-kick smashed the bar.
Lyon, who last won the competition in 2008, eventually went
ahead in the 59th minute when goalkeeper Lucas Rastello parried a
fierce Briand shot into the path of Lacazette, who poked the
ball into the empty net.
Lisandro doubled the tally on 73 minutes when he latched
on to an Anthony Reveillere cross to put the result beyond
doubt.
Clement Grenier made it 3-0 10 minutes from time with a
fine chip following a poor clearance by Rastello and Gomis
rubbed salt in Ajaccio's wounds with a fourth in the last minute
at theend of a swift counter-attack.
The final will be played at the Stade de France on April 28.